RMW Health and Fitness Club

[Kovos_Datch]

I've always had a high metabolism when I was a child. I could eat a ton of junk and never gain a pound. However, since going to and graduating college, my metabolism has slowed down. I was also diagnosed with clinical depression halfway through college. The stress that went along with that, plus the medicine, and bad eating habits made me gain about 20 pounds.

I use a website (and its app) called "HabitRPG" to manage my life.

You can set up habits you want to do (for example, I have a "eat healthy" habit), dalies that you would like to do each day (I have a "take medicine" daily), and make to-do lists. You can also make rewards for yourself when you accomplish stuff.

Everytime you check off a daily, to-do, or habits, you gain some virtual gold. This gold can be used on rewards or on equipment for your character. But, if you don't check off dailies or have to check a negative habit, you will lose health. If you lose enough health, your character dies, loses one piece of equipment, and loses one level.

Everyone I've seen on the website has been respectful and supportive. I have made a lot of strong connections with people and have helped some in need. I definitely recommend the site.

 

[mlogan]

As I was making dinner tonight, I thought it might be a good chance to share how easy it can be to modify unhealthy foods to a more healthy alternative, once you know how. We love Mexican food, so I've learned how to adapt a lot of it. My standard taco meat is lean ground turkey with my own homemade seasoning (to avoid high sodium and preservatives in store bought mixes). We had some leftover so I used it to make tostados.

I sprayed corn tortillas with a little olive oil and baked them for about 12 minutes or so at 350. Then I topped with the meat (which I'd reheated already) and a LITTLE cheese, lol. Popped them back in just long enough to melt the cheese.

Spoiler

Then I topped mine with plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream (though a small amount of sour cream is not bad) and lettuce. If I'd had it I would have also used tomato, pico or salsa on top.

Spoiler

These would be great to add rinsed black beans to or to use shredded chicken instead. The point is, simple mods can make a not-so-healthy dinner better for you.

 

[Clord]

One thing I have learned to manage is my weight.


I don't generally like sweets etc so I very rarely eat them. Things like candy I don't buy unless it's something very specific and has been months since the last time. I't one of those things I could go for over year without eating them and still not want them that much.


Food I eat is generally something that has actual nutrition value, so that means stuff like ice cream is very rare.


My stomach is less tolerant to crap and makes me easily feel bad, which enforces my dieting without actually actively trying to diet even further. My weight loss is slow and steady as I exercise.

 

[Dark Horseman]

If you can't find the will or motivation to exercise, you should definitely consider cutting back in overall calories and eating healthier instead. Dieting is in fact vastly more important than exercise for lowering your waistline (exercise only takes priority if you want to build muscle and tone). Something I've always told friends and family that have been casual about these things is to lower their intake by 200 calories per day by doing very manageable things like abstaining from a small portion from dinner, not eating skin, or not having that one snack pack from the vending machine. If you go to bed feeling slightly hungry but not starving, you're doing it right.

Gigantic results if you've been doing the following and stop:

- No more soda. Try to switch to seltzer water as a substitute.

- No more hamburgers. Switch to eating chicken, skinless preferably.

- Nothing heavy in carbs and saturated fats, i.e. pizza.

- Go for lighter alcohols (or no alcohol... maybe?). Lagers and cocktails are super heavy for example.

 

[Ms Littlefish]

That's wonderful advice @Dark Horseman. If weight loss is the goal, 90% of the results are going to come from changing your eating habits. I've heard a phrase "eat for weight, exercise for health." Exercise will help our cardiovascular health and strength, but the energy exerted in an hour of moderate exercise might only be equivalent to a snack or small meal. Another popular phrase I've heard is "you can't outrun your fork."

I encourage anyone with a goal of weight loss or weight maintenance to calculate what their TDEE is. http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

In fact the other calculators on that site can estimate around how much fat, carbohydrates, ect someone should be aiming for based on their energy needs and exercise plan.

The point is, even if you are sort of a couch potato you can find out how much your body spends, eat less than that, and still lose weight. Of course, if you start an exercise plan your overall health will improve and, psssst, you can eat a tiny bit more too. But it's not 100% necessary for weight loss, just highly recommended.

If weight loss is your goal, making a deficit of 500 calories from your diet and exercise should result in about a pound of weight lost in a week. Slow and steady wins the race. Cut too much and you're going to want to quit because it's too hard to keep up eating so little. Not recommended either! You have to adopt a lifestyle for the rest of your life, not just the weight loss. So it has to be something you can keep doing.

@Kovos_Datch Gamifiication is a really interesting topic and I think it's a perfect approach for some people to take toward changing routines, especially gamers like us. I'm excited to see what else gets gamification treatment.

 

[Bastrophian]

@MsLittlefish- I'm doing all of that right now . Except I'm not eating anything deepfried at all, nor am I eating pastries, or drinking sodas. Just water and milk, and juice here and there. I started out really strong, didn't even crave the stuff from my old diet....until recently, I've been craving chocolate and penutbutter real fierce recently....MUSENT GIVE IN XP .

 

[mlogan]

You know a bit and the right kinds is okay. Small amounts of dark chocolate are not bad for you - they have less sugar. And small amounts of peanut butter contain healthy fats.

One thing I used to do when I would get a chocolate craving would be to get a bar of at least 60% dark chocolate, take a square and smear a tsp of peanut butter on it.

The chocolate helped the craving and the fat in the peanut butter helps you feel full longer.

 

[Kovos_Datch]

One thing I have learned to manage is my weight.

I don't generally like sweets etc so I very rarely eat them. Things like candy I don't buy unless it's something very specific and has been months since the last time. I't one of those things I could go for over year without eating them and still not want them that much.

Food I eat is generally something that has actual nutrition value, so that means stuff like ice cream is very rare.

My stomach is less tolerant to crap and makes me easily feel bad, which enforces my dieting without actually actively trying to diet even further. My weight loss is slow and steady as I exercise.

It's funny how that works. If you cut things out of your diet, such as soda or sweets, you won't want them as much later. It is super difficult to begin with, but once you hit a certain point, you no longer crave it that much.

I cut soda out of my diet years ago and I will generally only have one or two a month if I go out to eat.

This is great advice, Clord!

 

[Ms Littlefish]

Well, Deathswallow. Part of a healthy lifestyle is going to include eating some of our most favorite things once in awhile. We're going to go to BBQs, have birthday parties, and celebrate Christmas.These are fun times in our life that we don't have to eliminate completely. That's the whole moderation thing. There's a huge difference between eating cake on your birthday and eating it every day.

I've enjoyed plenty of pastries, burgers, and at times had more to drink that I should have and I've still managed to lose every ounce that I have.

Since you've only recently started, I understand  the merit in holding back your cravings since we have to relearn how to eat. However, in the long run we're going to thwart our issues  and be a lot more flexible and reasonable with the treats we can have.

 

[Kovos_Datch]

Another good idea that was hinted at is finding healthier food you like or taste similar to foods you like. The key is eating healthy food you like!

For example, if you like tart and sweet tastes and want to give up those types of candy or junk food, you could eat something like pineapple.

 

[MaikeruKeay]

i walk a few miles to school and back everyday and just hope its enough to keep me reasonably healthy

LIVING LIFE ON THE EDGE!!!

 

[Seriel]

i walk a few miles to school and back everyday and just hope its enough to keep me reasonably healthy

LIVING LIFE ON THE EDGE!!!

Yep. That.

 

[Kaelan]

I've always had a high metabolism when I was a child. I could eat a ton of junk and never gain a pound. However, since going to and graduating college, my metabolism has slowed down. I was also diagnosed with clinical depression halfway through college. The stress that went along with that, plus the medicine, and bad eating habits made me gain about 20 pounds.

This is true for everyone. The older you get, the less tolerant your body gets to the abuse you can throw at it. That's why it's super important to work on your health while you still have it. The longer you wait and the less you have when you start, the harder it'll be to improve. You should think of working on your health as a preventative measure, not as a treatment - don't wait until something goes horribly wrong to start working on it!

And don't forget that health != not fat. You've gotta work out! Cardio is good, but it's really not enough on its own. If you want more details as to why, I'd recommend watching this talk. It's geared towards women, but a lot of it applies to anyone:

 

[Clord]

I know this might sound ironic to some but if you're poor in terms of wealth and stuff like that, you might see positive effect in your lifestyle.


Since you're likely going to pay way more attention and do actual planning of how you spend your money, one of the things you might cut back is luxuries like "waste" food.


As a side note, if you have not much disposable income, you shouldn't really be buying games but that's just my opinion. HOWEVER I recommend to spend money on stuff like games anyway in such a case if it reduces amount of sweets etc you buy.

 

[Bastrophian]

I can feel my my legs getting stronger, but my arms are still really flimsy. :< .... So far I still can only lift the bar by itself when I'm doing over head presses. ...

 

[mlogan]

As long as you can do a little more than you could the previous time, you are doing great. Keep it up! With weight lifting you will likely find that suddenly you get this jump in what you can lift. At least, that's been my experience.

 

[Kovos_Datch]

Gosh, you people are making me feel like a total slacker.

I took a hike (for my volunteer work) and only did 20 push ups today (since I am out of shape)...

...AND then I ate a TON for dinner. Perhaps portion control should be another focus of mine hahaha.

 

[Dark Horseman]

What's a standard dinner for you? Take 1/4 of the carbs (like potatoes, fries, chips, rice, bread, or pasta) -> garbage disposal, or if you're awesome at self-control, don't cook as much of it. If I start to feel hunger pangs later, I eat some almonds or low-fat greek yogurt (I had extreme friends eat chia seeds, lol). Anything that makes you feel full without getting you full is a good replacement.

 

[Kovos_Datch]

For as much as I eat, I should weigh more. I usually have a 1-2 plate dinner.

I have been thinking about what you said, Horseman, and I will certainly work at that! Thanks for the tips

 

[Bastrophian]

Oh yeah, I'm making loads of progress with my squats...now I can do one while keeping my heels on the ground ...also, 70lbs....yeah, I know thats not really a lot, but last week it was 40lbs ....its just my other exercises that are really lagging, I think I really screwed them up somehow.